In order to meet the growing health needs of the Central
Pennsylvania region, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
and Penn State College of Medicine have begun construction on a
number of projects identified in the Master Site and Facilities
Plan for the Hershey campus. Activity will continue for the next
several years, as Penn State works to build a healthier tomorrow
for its patients and community.
This website is designed to provide you with information
about our growth and timely updates about projects that may
affect you or your loved one.
Responding to the need
Over the past five years, patient admissions to the Medical
Center have grown from 20,000 per year to more than 26,000 per
year. An emergency department originally built for 35,000
emergency room visits a year, will see nearly 50,000 patients in
the coming year and Medical Center outpatient clinics saw more
than 200,000 additional patient visits this past year than they
did in 2002.
With a population that is growing and aging, Central
Pennsylvania has an increased need for quality healthcare
services. Penn State Hershey Medical Center is the only teaching
and research hospital located between Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
and Baltimore and as such is uniquely positioned to offer care
locally to severely ill or injured patients who might otherwise
need to travel several hours for needed services.
Educating the next generation of caregivers
With many healthcare experts warning of a looming physician
shortage in the years to come and an aging baby boomer
generation, Penn State has responded by increasing its number of
students in its medical classes. Over a four year period, Penn
State College of Medicine has increased medical student class
size from 125 students to 145 students. While this strategy will
aid in producing more future doctors, it also means more space
is needed to teach medical students and enable them to
participate in clinical rotations.
Developing new treatments
Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Hershey Medical
Center are home to internationally-renowned medical researchers.
Basic scientists and clinical investigators are continuously
exploring the risk factors, causes of disease and methods of
prevention. Our researchers are constantly working to develop
new therapies and diagnostics to detect illness and treat
patients more effectively and safely, and improve the overall
quality of life for patients with chronic illness. Good
research, however, requires the space and people necessary to
continue it. Over a five-year span from 2001-2005, funded
research nearly doubled from $55 million to nearly $101 million.
As the work of Penn State scientists has expanded, so have the
needs for equipment, trained staff and, above all, the physical
space necessary to conduct medical research.
What is planned?
To learn more about individual construction projects, click
on the Construction Projects link on the left hand side of your
screen. These links will provide you with the scope and schedule
for each planned facility and show you artists renderings of
each project.
